In the 1940s, the time that the fate of the Chinese people and the dignity of Chinese Buddhism fell into the nadir, a 14-year-old boy was ordained to be a Buddhist monk in Nantong, Jiangsu Province,China. Since then he had embarked on the journey of pursuing and spreading the Dharma for nearly 70 years. It was, moreover, a course for him to explore the refuge of his faith and life’s dignity. 

Master Sheng Yen portrays Master Sheng Yen’s turbulent life and times in the form of a factual movie. The film unfolds on the streets of New York in 1979, relating the course of Master Sheng Yen’s life with 10-year chapters, including The Dying Fire of His Faith (1949), Second Ordination (1959), Leaving for Japan (1969), Chan Practice and Spreading the Dharma (1979), Founding Dharma Drum Mountain (1989), Care for Life and Death (1999), and Master Sheng Yen’s Passing Away (2009).